I think what I love most about this series is the different worlds. Every book, there's a completely new setting to lose yourself in, complete with a new cast of characters. But of course, sometimes the best ones from previous novels come along for the ride. ( )

I listen to young adult books when I go to or am trying to go to sleep. I have to admit this book was fun to listen to for the most part. I normally allowed one cd a night and had to turn it off once it was done. Although I found the main character to be whiny and a pain in the butt I rather enjoyed the story line and the somewhat coming of age adventure of Bobby Pendragon. He is a whiner and the guy reading the story truely portrays whinyness to a fault. Will listen to more once I make it to the library for more by this author. ( )

Bobby is an 8th grader who didn't know that his whole life he was destined to be a traveler. His destiny kicks into gear when his uncle whisks him off to a dangerous world accessed through a flume like portal. On this strange medieval like planet, Bobby is thrown into a conflict of master over slave, and he must look inside himself to find the strengths he has to help end the conflict. If he fails, a larger conflict could erupt that threatens the survival of every being on the planet. Bobby is a reluctant participant in this struggle and wishes at every turn to be relinquished of this responsibility so he can return to his friends and family on earth. In the end Bobby realizes, with the help of his fellow traveler, Loor, that it doesn't take physical strength to be a hero. Younger teens will like the story, but it lacks the depth needed to interest older readers. ( )

When I was itty bitty little Mel, just a wee 10 years old, I got a boxed set of book 1, 2 and 3 of this series for Christmas. This was about the same time that all my friends were getting Harry Potter for Christmas. I devoured these books and it became a yearly tradition that I would get the newest book for Valentines Day every year from my mom. I would wake up, get ready REALLY fast, and go downstairs to see the newest book on the kitchen table. So while everyone was growing up in the world of Harry Potter, and don't get me wrong I did read those, I grew up in the world of the Flume's. It has been a long time since I've read these books (honestly I have read this about 8 times, but not in a while) but I love it so much. I'll do a huge character plot review when I finish rereading this, but I remember it so vividly that I want everyone I love to read this book. ( )

In Pendragon: The Merchant of Death, D.J. MacHale, the creator of several popular television series and Afterschool Specials, transplants the Pendragon name from Arthurian legend to modern-day junior high school. Fourteen- year-old Bobby Pendragon has it all; he's smart, popular, and a star basketball player in quiet Stony Brook, Connecticut. But a visit from Uncle Press soon topples all of that as Bobby learns that he is a Traveler, someone who can ride "flumes" through time and space. Bobby lands in Denduron, a medieval world where the gentle Milago are enslaved by the Bedoowan, and it's Bobby's job to free them. He reluctantly teams up with Loor--a girl his age from the warrior-territory of Zadaa--and other Travelers, recounting his adventures in journals that are magically transported back to his friends Mark and Courtney in Stony Brook. These first-person journals at times feel contrived--they're riddled with terms like "coolio" and "bizarro" and gnarly descriptions of vile sights and smells--but the book's thumping story soon scrubs away all such concern. The Merchant of Death keeps the pages flipping with steady action and near-constant mortal peril for its heroes, promising that both this and future volumes in the Pendragon series should be eagerly devoured. (Ages 10 and older) --D.J. Morel